All the Lights are Misty in the River
by HiddlesMeThis
Summary: After the barricade Éponine and Enjolras are now in their eternal resting place, free in Heaven. Everyone seems happy except Enjolras who feels he has nothing left now, and Éponine who is split between if she wants Marius to join her here or not. Enjolras finds a river, a window from Heaven down to Earth allowing Éponine and Enjolras to watch over Marius.
1. The Fall of the Barricade, the Rising

Chapter 1: The Fall of the Barricade, the Rising of Spirits

Éponine blinked her eyes open, squinting from the momentary flash of blinding white light.

"Monsieur Marius?" She groaned a little disoriented, she remembered nothing, her mind was fogged and all she knew was she now lay in a meadow with soft, tall, vibrant green grass swaying around her. Her body felt nothing, she wanted it call it a numb feeling but even in numbness one feels their limbs, a certain tingle as to tell them they're alive. She was lacking this; she was lacking feeling all together. She felt light, almost as if she could blow in the wind along with the waving grass. She closed her eyes, trying to sort through her empty thoughts. Where was she and how did she get here? She barely had a grasp on her own name, or who she was.

The longer she lay there concentrating things slowly began to come back to her. Last she could recall she lay fatally wounded at the barricade in Marius' arms, his warmth and smooth voice comforting her. One of her hands shot up to her abdomen where she had been clutching, though she felt no pain and still no sense of being or presence. There was no wet feeling of blood, warm or otherwise, in fact there were no signs of a wound anywhere. Her body felt much the same; she wouldn't have even known her hand lay on her stomach if she hadn't looked down to see the ground was much lower than where her hand rested.

Finally she sat herself up, the ground feeling sturdy enough to push off of, yet it wasn't cold or rough to the touch. The clear, cloudless horizon glowed with what resembled a white mist, and though it would appear rather eerie, it sent a feeling of calm down her core. It all made sense now; she had died that night at the barricade. How long ago that was, she had no idea, and where it was going to be taking her was even more of a mystery. She turned slowly, seeing the skyline of what seemed to be a small town and she kept her eyes to it and she got to her feet.

The silence around her was the worst part of this whole thing as she moved towards the buildings. She felt no weight on her feet, only a faint tickling of the strands of grass against her skin. As she approached the cluster of buildings a few people passed by her, they seemed to be in the same disgruntled state as her. She spoke to none of them until she saw a small boy with brown hair, Gavroche! At first she was relieved to see such a familiar face, but the feeling soon flooded from her when the realisation hit her and she felt as if she'd been kicked in the stomach.

There was only one way for him to be here; Gavroche had died, "Oh good God in Heaven, Gavroche, that can't be… Not you."

It was strange to hear her voice ring out, for the silence to be broken, and to see the young boy turn to face her and her fears to be confirmed, it was in fact little Gavroche.

"'ponine! Fancy seeing you here," he sounded a little too cheerful for the position they were in.

"I reckon a lot of the others will be meeting or joining us later tonight." She frowned, had the barricades turned into a massacre? Marius; was he all right? She couldn't lie, to have him here with her would please her, but to think of him suffering tormented her soul.

"I could say the same to you. What's happened? What casualties do you know of?" She dug her nails into her palms, nervously awaiting to hear his name, though she would not know until it came, or didn't come, how she would feel.

"No one was without injury, as for deaths, all I know was it was a countless number. The barricade fell, you see, and The National Guard wasn't about to let that go." Her chest stayed in a suspenseful tightness, still unsure of what she wanted. No, she knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted him here beside her. She stayed silent as they continued on, scanning the faces of all the men that passed her by.

It didn't take long for them to come to a cobblestone street that led them straight into the heart of the small town. It looked exactly as she could remember her life looking, but all the sharp edges were softened with the misty haze.


	2. The ABC Café

Chapter 2: The ABC Café

The ABC café was where Gavroche and Éponine figured they'd wait and, just as Gavroche had imagined, it was filled with the familiar faces of their close friends, all drinking, laughing, and singing once more. The flow of the people wandering in was unsettlingly fast for Éponine's liking. They sat down and Éponine waited eagerly, her heart feeling suspended in her chest as the steady stream of people began to simmer down. The last to enter were Enjolras and Grantaire, and even though most of the men now seemed cheerful, Enjolras wore a solemn look on his face, his brow furrowed, his lips pursed.

Éponine watched their interactions with a sadness set upon her features. He'd seemed so much more gleeful in life, in the middle of revolution, than he did now. She watched him push Grantaire away and she subtly gazed after him as he strode off and sat alone at a table off to the side, his face buried in his hands. Perhaps she was watching his disappointment as her own way to cope with the disappointment of not seeing Marius pass through the door.

Grantaire took up a seat beside Gavroche, his spirits appeared lifted now that he wasn't around Enjolras, but she could tell by his eyes that he must still be stuck on whatever was said between them.

Éponine couldn't stand to see the man who had once been so filled with passion in such a state. She may not have known him very well in life, but she slowly stood and moved over to stand across the table from him, causing him to lift his head, his eyes seemed hollow, and he let out a sigh with an irritated tone in his voice, "I'm sorry, Mademoiselle is there something I can do for you?"

She hesitantly took a seat and looked across the table at him. "I don't mean to disturb you from your thoughts, Monsieur, but I couldn't help but notice a change in your actions." She gave him a light smile before hurriedly pushing in, "Not that I've known you very well, simply what I've seen and heard of you."

His eyes scanned over her face, she still kept a faint smile plastered across her face as a gesture of kindness, her small dimples showing ever so slightly.

"Forgive me I did not catch your name, mademoiselle. You look quite familiar." He reached across the table and took her small, delicate hand in his larger, much more worked ones. He bowed his head and pressed the back of her hand to his lips, sending a sensation of warmth through her body that she'd yet to feel since she arrived here.

"Éponine Thénardier, Monsieur Enjolras. Gavroche is my younger brother." He nodded in recognition, letting her hand fall back to the table.

"Ah yes, I do believe I remember now, friends with Marius if I remember correctly." She gave a light nod, feeling herself stiffen at the mention of his name and her cheeks flush as her smile widened. Enjolras wasn't one to miss such blatant displays of emotion and he gave a light smile.

"Oh, fond of young Marius were you? Charming young man, I must admit, although I'm sure you know of his devotion to the one Cosette." Éponine sunk back, even now she was going to be reminded of how he never loved her back, how no matter how much she poured her heart out to him, he was blinded by the radiant Cosette.

"Yes, of course," she mumbled, thinking back to why she had come over here in the first place, but she was reminded when she looked back to his eyes. They were vacant and sharp, seeming even more piercing with that glowing light that softened the rest of his figure. "I was just wondering if you were alright."

He sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and pausing a moment to let an uproar of cheers die down, a smirk on his face now in fascination. He sat forward again, leaning over the table on his elbows in curiosity, looking over the girl before him. Compared to the others that were gathered here, she seemed the least cheerful, besides him. His smirk still plastered on his face, a dimple in his cheek, he twisted a coin through his fingers.

"There must be a reason you ask that, please do tell, mademoiselle."

She raised a brow, locking her eyes on his in wonder. "Forgive me, Monsieur Enjolras, I do not mean to offend, but as I knew you to be in life you were much more… motivated."

He let out a soft chuckle, looking down at his hands, "And you are not the same way?"

He observed, glancing back up to her. "From what I saw of you, you were an eager young woman. You seem much more frigid here, not that I can blame you. Do you wish to know why I've lost my motivation?"

She could no longer keep her gaze to his now sad eyes and looked down to his hands, still flipping the coin between his fingers. He took her silence as a yes.

"Do you understand why we're all here? Why you see all the men from the barricade here but no one else, no one from the National Guard? Because you're brought to the place that resembles where you desired to be the most and for us, it was a free France, and that is exactly what we were given as you can see." He motioned around him, "The reason for my deterred spirits, Mademoiselle, lies within that truth. Yes, it is what I wanted. Yes, it's all I've ever wanted to see, but none of it's real. This didn't come from my, our, hard work."

"Perhaps you should see it as compensation? As a reward for your work." She interjected quickly, trying to add some hope to his eyes. He chuckled coolly, crossing his arms across his chest again.

"Oh yes, there is that. It is not all without its high points, I agree. In fact our deaths may not be in vain, I hope it only makes more people notice the injustices in France. But what bothers me the most, kind Mademoiselle, is that that was my life's devotion. I did nothing but fight for France, give all my time to France, live and breathe for France. I did indeed have fun, drinking and singing with my friends, speaking of what we'd do for France. All I ever loved was France, and I gave my life to France." He brought a hand up to his face, rubbing the side of his face before placing his fingers over his pursed lips.

"And that… That bothers you." She muttered more for her own thought process to make sure she was following what he was saying.

"It bothers you because you don't have anything left. That's gone now and you're… mourning the loss of all you ever knew." Her voice grew stronger as she spoke, but it was still soft, filled with understanding.

He simply nodded, closing his eyes, "Yes, yes I suppose that is true. But the worst part is as I am here, in this Heaven; there are people still in that corrupt state. All I can do now is watch, and to be honest, it's more frightening than fighting myself."

"Watch?" She asked curiously when he paused and opened his eyes at her voice. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" He raised a brow, bringing his arm back down and tapping his fingers against his other arm in though, his lips once again a thin, straight line and his eyes gazing down at the table. He seemed to be frozen in thought for a moment before he looked back up to her, his eyes still in their same hollow condition.

"Would you like to?"


	3. The River Window

Chapter 3: The River Window

He slowly stood and offered his arm to her that she hesitantly took; letting him lead her from the café, out into the silent, still street, only the odd person was spotted off on the side streets and out of what she expect to be habit, he would pull her back out of view and scan over the people as they passed.

They exchanged no words until they came to the edge of the city, a small cluster of tall, straight trees with deep green leaves at the top. He took her through a narrow path through the trees until a light almost as blinding as the previous one before she had awoken in the meadow appeared before them, blazing from the ground. She squinted as he tried to bring her closer, but she dug her heels down as he pulled, letting her eyes adjust to the light.

"What is that?"

"This is what I wanted to show you, dear Éponine." When she rested his second pull he let her arm go and moved towards the light, lying on the ground and gazing back at her, motioning her over with his hand. "Come here, Mademoiselle, it is not nearly as bright from here."

She moved towards him and he was right, it was much less bright from here. Now that she was closer, the brightness appeared to be coming from a thin river that cut through the land. It sparkled and shimmered, its rippling surface shooting the rays of soft white light in every direction.

She got to her knees and lied beside him, "I still don't understand, Monsieur Enjolras. What is this place? What about it did you want to show me?"

He looked over to her, his eyes seemed to have regained a small light to them, although she wasn't sure if it was from lifted spirits or simply the strange light coming from the river that merely reflected from his eyes.

"Just watch."

He dipped his hand into the water, breaking the surface and causing it to go still, dragging his fingers through the strange glowing substance that only became clearer and still at his touch. When he retracted his hand there was no sign of water on his skin but she quickly forgot when she looked back down to the water.

Her eyes widened, it was now as if the water had become a window and there… there was Marius. He lay on a couch, wrapped in many bandages stained with blood, but he was breathing, slowly but surely.

She felt a heaviness in her chest, her emotions clashed again. He had survived the barricade, but not in a good shape. He lived, but he suffered. She heard a groan escape his lips, only giving her body the feeling of being held down with lead. She felt a silent tear fall down her cheek but she didn't respond to it, trying to keep it hidden from the man lying beside her.

"Is this… real?" she asked lightly. "I mean, is that actually him? Is that what he's doing?" She still stared intently at the image.

He nodded his head in agreement, sending a quickly glance her way which she caught in the corner of her eye.

"Yes indeed, it is him," he murmured watching her pained expression with the dancing light of the river splashed over her features. "He was wounded rather badly as you can see, Valjean was nearby, I led him in his direction. With all the blood that was shed, with the life that was lost, I figured the poor boy deserved a break."

"What do you mean? You led Valjean to him?" Éponine's eyes shot up to meet his, a look of bewilderment showed in them with no attempt to hide it.

He sighed and turned towards her, shutting his eyes in thought. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, if it only works in times of need as I suspect, but I found myself hoping, praying that he'd be found."

He paused and opened his eyes, his brow furrowed, biting his lip before his continued.

"I'm not even sure if it works, it may just be a coincidence. In fact I am almost certain it is, I'm just holding on desperately to a false hope. A false hope that I can still help, that I'm not completely useless after all my life's devotion to France."

He splashed his hand against the water's surface and the window flooded with water again, shimmering wildly with light. Enjolras pushed himself up off his stomach and sat up, holding his head in his hands. Éponine turned, still on her stomach, and looked back at him. The man seemed so dejected by life. It wasn't that he had died for the cause that bothered him; it was that he knew not what to do with himself.

"There must have been something else, something you can place your passion in." He turned back at her soft words; his eyes watered now, his brows sharply pointed downwards.

"You think if I knew of something I wouldn't have done that already? I have my heart and soul and life to France! There was nothing else! I never wed, all my work was towards the Revolution, the only bonding I had was with other men who helped the Revolution and when they went back to their families I'd close myself up with my maps and information! My life was a fight, and in my death there is nothing!"


	4. Restoration of Passion

Chapter 4: Restoration of Passion

Éponine frowned lightly, a crease in her smooth cheek in worry. She sat up and crossed her legs, holding her feet close to her. She assumed he wouldn't want her pity or sympathy in such a state. She thought a moment for a way to help him, to give him something in his new "life" to place his passion into, for him to do. Enjolras never was one for simply sitting back and doing nothing, and she couldn't exactly blame him for that.

"Perhaps," she started in a soft voice as he got to his feet, his back still turned to her; he was walking away from her and her help. "If it_ is_ possible to help guide our friends… Maybe you could learn to help them. Maybe you never consciously loved a person, but I am certain you loved every single one of the people that helped your cause."

At her words he froze in his place, his hands that had curled themselves into tight fists loosened. His back was still turned to her but she could see him turn to glance at her, the wetness in his eyes and the worry lines that seemed to age him a good ten years.

"I know you loved Marius deeply," his voice had cooled and now was nothing but sadness and weary.

She simply nodded in response looking down to her hands she folded in her lap.

"What was that like?" He asked lightly, taking one of her smaller hands in his. "The feeling of, well, love."

"Well, I hate to sound cliché but it was a wonderful feeling just for him to look at me." She found herself smiling the like pathetic little girl she'd always been. "It would send almost a shiver down my spine, but a contradictory warmth would spread through my body. My cheeks would turn pink, my heart would race, and I'd have to bit my tongue to stop myself from smiling."

"I see," he found himself stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. "And even when he never noticed, you still found yourself in such a dilemma?"

She nodded again, feeling a little embarrassed, her cheeks burning. She knew she was always fooling herself around Marius, but to hear someone else point out how hopelessly devoted she was with no cause only made her feel worse about herself. Even in her distress she felt his fingers wrap around her wrist, pressing gently on the soft… skin on the inside of it. She glanced down, her cheeks dark pink, her unnecessary breathing staggered and her chest tightened.

"Did your heart beat as it is now?" He asked with a bit of a smirk on his lips.

She didn't answer, but her hands shook and her teeth dug into her bottom lip.

"Trying not to smile, are you now?"

She tried to suppress her trembling in her hands, but it did not work, no matter how hard she concentrated on it but as she was busy with staring at her hand she felt her chin be lifted up and his lips pressed softly to hers.


	5. My Dear We All Must Stay Alive

Chapter 5: My Dear We All Must Stay Alive

Eponine's eyes widened and she pulled back a little, shocked by the very incident she'd just experienced. Never had she felt so alive in her life, who would have thought the most exhilarating thing she could have had happen to her would happen after she'd left her earthly vessel behind? She smiled brightly; her cheeks tingled in an odd sensation of excitement. That is, until a thought popped into her head.

Marius.

She'd always dreamed and hoped she'd be sharing in this experience with him, God knows she tried hard enough to make it happen.

"Are you alright? You look rather pale, and I mean more than it seems to be normal. It wasn't that bad was it?" Enjolras sat back, his hands resting in the swaying, illuminating grass.

Without an answer Eponine flipped back onto her stomach and almost violently splashed at the shimmering surface until it cleared and she practically dunked her whole head into what would be the water of the stream, getting a clear view of Marius laying unconscious on a bed, a light blanket draped over his bloodied body smeared with dirt and his torn clothing that clung to his body from the rain, blood and sweat.

She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, in her ear she could hear Enjolras' muffled yells that did sound as if her ears were clogged with water. It wasn't until Marius seized on his bed, writhing and rolling that she realized what she was doing; she was trying to bring him to her and she felt a pity for herself in the bottom of her stomach until Cosette came rushing in and placed a hand on him.

Marius shook, sending a twisted feeling of impending vomit down Eponine's throat, but for some reason seeing Cosette cry cancelled out this feeling of guilt.

Oh God, who was she? This was not Eponine, it couldn't be. '_What if that was you, would you not cry, beg, pray for it to stop?_' swam through her mind over and over until she succumb to Enjolras' constant tugging and pulling trying to bring her back to the 'surface'.

As she was pulled back the clouded, shining surface rejoiced, but before the clarity completely fogged over, she notice Marius once again at rest.

"What do you think you're doing?" Enjolras pulled her to his chest, tightly hold her around her waist, her arms pressed to her sides.

"You can't just… You can't do that, 'Ponine!"

"Why not? You did." She huffed and squirmed a little. "Besides, I wasn't going to do anything, I was just-"

"Just what? 'Ponine you almost killed him! We're going to keep him safe, that's what I want. That's what I need to feel purposeful. That's what I need to feel alive."

_Of course, it's not me you need to feel alive; it's Monsieur Marius. Everyone always loves Monsieur Marius, and he'd probably acknowledge you more than he ever did me. But what else is new?_


End file.
